40 Acres Sports

Brian Orakpo is Texas' second Nagurski winner

Texas defensive end [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] was announced last night as the winner of the Bronco Nagurski Trophy at a ceremony held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The award has been given annually since 1993 to the nation’s best defensive college football player as judged by the members of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). Orakpo is the second Longhorn to win the award, joining 2004 winner [tag]Derrick Johnson[/tag].

• Read the university release.

According to Sports Illustrated draft expert Tony Pauline, Texas wide receiver [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] is one of the biggest risers for the 2009 NFL Draft. He thinks he is a midround selection but could be headed toward a long NFL career.

Quan Cosby/WR/Texas: The Longhorns sure handed pass-catcher finished his senior campaign with career numbers and now has scouts grading him as a potential mid-round choice. Cosby came up big during critical moments all season and projects as a fourth receiver in the NFL.

Love to see this as Quan has been one of my favorite players the last two seasons. He just has a knack for making the big play and never letting his quarterback down. I’m not sure I’ve seen a college receiver make as many in traffic, while being pass interfered catches as Quan has at Texas. His absence due to injury during the [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] was one of the biggest reasons the Horns came up short. It be great if Quan (and two or three more good WRs) could end up in Tennessee to help out [tag]Vince Young[/tag].

Want to be really pissed? Read this story about a Harris Poll voter from The Oklahoman’s Barry Tramel:

Some have questioned the validity of the Harris Interactive poll, which has had a spotty run in its four years as being part of the BCS.

The skepticism could be valid.

True story from the Boone Pickens Stadium pressbox Saturday night.

I asked Harris poll voter Pat Quinn, the former Oklahoma State University sports information director, how he would vote OU and Texas if the Sooners won Saturday night.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Quinn said. “Doesn’t really matter.”

Really?

“I think [tag]Alabama[/tag] and [tag]Penn State[/tag] will probably play for the national championship,” Quinn said.

You do?

“They’re the only undefeated teams, aren’t they,” Quinn said.

Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.

“Oh well,” Quinn said, “those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes.”

Sigh. It’s so awful it’s almost hard to get angry about it. It’s not exactly unexpected as I was already under the impression that a great deal of Harris Poll voters watched little to no college football every weekend. I hope the BCS takes a long look at exactly who is voting in these things (including the current coaches) and whether they’re qualified to do so. Just a wild guess, Mr. Quinn won’t be a voter again next year.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit thinks the Longhorns deserved to be ahead of [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] but like most of us saw this coming. In a decision between two teams with nearly identical resumes, the Longhorns settled the head-to-head on the field back in October. Watch Herbie break it down below:

Texas and Oklahoma already settled it on the field

Now that the Longhorns took care of business on the field against the Aggies it’s time to join the 40,000 strong movement…

Better Consider the Scoreboard

We’ve somehow come to a time when head to head no longer matters…

It’s constantly suggested that College Football is a playoff and that things should be decided on the field. Well, on October 11, 2008 that happened. Texas beat Oklahoma head to head on a neutral field.

The goal of this site is simple, remind people that the game was played and we got a winner. In a situation where you must decide between two teams, shouldn’t you take the one that won the game?

Support the Cause

• Visit the 45 – 35 website.
• Join the Facebook group.

Other Links

• ESPN.com – The Longhorns have already proved it on the field.
• FoxSports.com – All together now … 45-35 … 45-35 … 45-35
• Rivals.com – A rank way to decide conference
• Sagarin Ratings – Strength of schedule favors Horns

It was a thing of beauty Thursday night as the Longhorns put the Aggies back in their place with a 49 – 9 thumping in front of a national Turkey Day audience. The Texas defense was completely dominant in the first half and the offense was led by an incredible night running and throwing by quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. We won’t know till Sunday if it was enough but Mack Brown’s kids won with both class and style, something that should make any Longhorn proud.

Watch the highlights:

Texas head coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] was on ESPN yesterday (and replayed a ton this morning) discussing tonights Texas A&M game and of course BCS rankings. It sounds like he’s saying all the right things and wants the kids focusing on the Aggies, but I imagine if the team takes care of business tonight he’ll be on the phone doing interviews during several games Friday and Saturday. He also does a great job at subtly reminding voters that the Longhorns beat the Sooners head-to-head earlier this year.

Watch the interview:

After losing to [tag]Notre Dame[/tag], Texas rebounded to take third place in the Maui Invitational with a win over [tag]Oregon[/tag]. Texas forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] stepped up big with his best game of the young season by pouring in 21 points and grabbing 12 boards. He was a very efficient 9 for 11 from the floor. [tag]Justin Mason[/tag] had another solid game both on the stat sheet and running the offense.

Check out the highlights from ESPN below:

Game stats available after the jump.

Will the Longhorns avoid a third straight upset?

The Texas Longhorns are 35-point favorites on Turkey Day against the Texas A&M Aggies and they might need to win by even more than that to impress the voters and hold onto their number two BCS ranking. The two rivals face off on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since 1993 when one of the Aggies many transgressions landed them with TV restrictions due to NCAA penalties. This year the Aggies are again playing with nothing to lose, can the Horns avoid another upset? Will they come out and earn enough “style points” to win a Big 12 South title and a chance for a national title? Find out how bad the Aggies will lose below:

Brian – Lots of poll watching and complaining by Texas fans this week but none of that will matter if the team doesn’t take care of business Thursday night. The last three seasons the Horns have been big favorites but didn’t come out strong and let the Aggies stay in the game. This year Texas needs to put some early points on the board against an overmatched team and never give them any hope. The Texas defense might give up a few points but the offense is going to have a field defense against a team that gave up 41 to [tag]Baylor[/tag]. Yes, Baylor! Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is looking for payback and his first win over A&M and he’s going to have a huge game in front of a national audience both passing and running. Texas 56 – Texas A&M 20

Matt – A lot more than just the usual rivalry bragging rights are on the line this Thanksgiving against Aggy. First and foremost is the fact that Texas currently sits at the #2 spot in the BCS and is desperate need of some style points with an impressive win (I am thinking by 40 or more). [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] will likely jump Texas no matter what with a win, but we can use all the help we can get. Second is the fact that Colt McCoy has yet to beat Aggy in his ridiculous career at Texas (probably the only thing he hasn’t done). I think these two scenarios make for a huge Texas win, as they will be looking to dominate this game. I am thinking 50+. Hopefully they don’t eat too much turkey before. Texas 60 – Texas A&M 10

Mike – Texas has every reason to blow out Texas A&M. The Longhorns enter the game with a slim lead over Oklahoma for the Big 12 tie breaker, and oh yeah, the Aggies have beaten the Longhorns for the last two seasons. At least one of the losses cost UT a conference championship and a BCS bowl. [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is usually hesitant to embarrass an opponent by leaving in his starters and running up the score, but this week holds special circumstances. His team needs style points because it looks like who goes to Kansas City next week will be determined by who plays best this week. The Longhorns get the first shot to impress the voters on Thanksgiving night in front of a national audience. Texas needs to win dominantly from the opening snap to the closing one. In years past I’d be worried about how Texas would respond to such pressure but with the leadership on the team combined with the passion the coaching staffs brought to this squad I have no doubts this one is going to get ugly. Colt McCoy will have a huge day that will move him to the front of the Heisman race and the Longhorns will make it real tough for voters to put OU in front of them on Sunday. Texas 55 – Texas A&M 13

The Texas basketball team faced their toughest test of the season last night in a top 10 match-up in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] had a half court attempt that would have won the game but it came up short and the team lost 80 – 81 to [tag]Notre Dame[/tag]. Watch highlights from ESPN below:

[tag]Justin Mason[/tag] ran the point most of the game and played well, shooting 7 of 12 from the field while adding 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Abrams scored 23 points to lead the Horns but needed 27 shots to do it and [tag]Damion James[/tag] continued to struggle to find his shot. For the Horns to make a serious tourney run James needs to find his groove, whether it’s as dominating force inside or as a wing scorer he needs to be this team’s leader.

With the loss the Horns are now 3 – 1 on the season. Up next is the third place game in Maui against [tag]Oregon[/tag] today at 3:30pm.

Game stats available after the jump.